Lil B’s Rare Lecture At NYU Was a Bizarre Success

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NYU’s Kimmel Center was filled to capacity on Wednesday night. Outside the venue, students with signs that read “Will pay for Lil B tix” begged passersby for any way in. Inside, about five hundred students were waiting in anticipation for the “Based God,” better known as the rapper Lil B.

After what seemed like a life time, president of the program board came to the podium and introduced the twenty-two year old, unsigned rapper. Like clock work, all five hundred plus phones and recording devices lit up the dark auditorium. “Are you guys ready?! The one, the only based god, Lil B!” It took another lifetime for the rapper to finally make his entrance.

“Aren’t you supposed to introduce someone right before they come out?” a perplexed student mumbled.

NYU students in search of Lil B tickets (Cred: Vittoria Colonna).

Moments later, Lil B strutted on stage in a neon green shirt and the arena roared with applause and chants–hands and cellphones went up in the air in hopes of capturing every moment. “Based God, Based God, Based God, Based God, Based God!!” The venue echoed with the voices of ecstatic students ready to be inspired.

Lil B adopted the name “Based God” as a means of spreading the idea of a lifestyle based on living in the moment. He wants everyone to live in the moment and love one another. He believes in judging people not by how they look, but by their soul. On Wednesday night, Lil B definitely followed his motto by living in the moment. “No pen, no pad. I didn’t script a speech. I come here and all I can do is be myself and spread love.”

“I just want to say, NYU, I love you!” The next ninety minutes or so were a whirlwind of rambling and ranting. Despite the lack of a themed lecture, there were moments in which B made some valid points, and at other times, he didn’t at all. Even so, the kids loved every minute of it.

Though there was no set clear theme for the night, Lil B repeatedly spoke about love and how we should all be on a positive wavelength. The unscripted, lecture hit points of philosophy, his career, his personal success and excellence (“Some people find success in a Bently, I find it within myself”). He even touched upon fracking, the process oil companies use to extract oil. “Stop fracking, ‘Ey Bruh, stop messin’ with the Earth, bruh!”

As the lecture came to a close Lil B informed everyone that he will be releasing a real rock album that will reflect the era of garage band music. He also claimed that he has a single coming out with one of the biggest rappers alive but didn’t say who. He gave away the scarf he was wearing and took questions from the students and asked some of his own. Students rushed to the stage after he announced that he wanted to give away copies of the book he wrote when he was nineteen, as well as some CDs.

NYU students swarm the stage (Cred: Vittoria Colonna).

Vince, a student at Gallatin at NYU shared his thoughts after the unexplainable, yet enlightening lecture:

“I honestly believe in my heart of hearts, that on some level he knows what he’s doing. And he’s weird but I think he’s like, intentionally weird– and on some level it’s like a performance art thing and that may sound really pretentious, but it’s really interesting to see what he does and follow his mixtapes because he’s just a bizarre dude.”

“I think the exact opposite,” said Pete, another NYU student. “I think he’s being entirely sincere and that’s what makes it really great. That he is just so beyond both irony and sincerity that it’s entirely real and he really believes that. He does whatever he thinks and I like that.”

The two basically summed up the night in a few sentences.

Check out some of the best, unexplainable quotes of the night:

“Appreciate every person. Look at them like they’re a golden, million dollar baby.”

“Respect knowledge, if you see someone with grey hair, respect that beauty!”

“How lucky we are to have this structure. Who built this? Tell me who built this building, please!”